Concussion
by MarburyBlur
Summary: After a tiring case, there's nothing the team wants to do more than sleep. But after Reid hits his head, the team nag him to no end, making sleep almost impossible.


After a particularly long and hard case in Miami, the team was exhausted. Especially Reid. He'd stayed up for the last two days, unable to sleep until the case was resolved. Reid worked through the night, poring through the evidence for anything anyone might've missed, finding nothing until daybreak. He found the name Timmy in the UnSub's journal. Calling up Garcia, he discovered that Timmy had been a close friend of the UnSub when they were young. Timmy had died when they were nine and his old house was now abandoned.

Zipping over there, the team saved the ten kidnapped victim's and arrested the UnSub with no casualties. The case was closed as a complete victory. But the entire team was drained. On the jet ride home, each team member found a spot to nest on, most reclining in chairs. Reid himself was laid out on the couch next to the coffee station.

Moments after take-off, Reid was asleep. Morgan settled into his chair and looked affectionately towards Reid, who was mumbling in his sleep. Morgan nudged the almost dozing JJ next to him and nodded towards Reid. JJ chuckled and looked on with a small smile on her lips.

Reid groaned as he wrestled with his blanket, gradually getting louder.

"No…Nooo…NO!" Morgan rushed over to Reid to try and shake him out of his nightmare. The rest of the team woke up slowly. Rossi opened one eye and looked around with a scowl on his face.

"Kid! Hey, Kid!" Morgan tapped Reid on the shoulder. Reid violently flinched and fell off the couch. His head slammed into the corner of the step that led to the coffee station.

"Son of a-" Reid started.

"Reid," Hotch warned.

"Lovely lady, Hotch. I was going to say lovely lady," Reid saved, slightly irritated.

"Are you alright, Reid?" Prentiss asked, her concern obvious.

"Ugh…probably not. Why is there a stair here?" Reid asked as Morgan helped him sit on the couch. A trail of blood dripped down the side of his head.

"He hit his temple. He might have a pretty severe concussion," JJ said. Prentiss came to Reid's side with a wet paper towel and started wiping away the blood.

"Hey Kid, look at me," Morgan moved Reid's head forward so they were face to face. Reid's gaze was glassy and unfocused.

"Let's try this. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Well, statistically, Americans hold up either a two or a three about 99.9% of the time this question is asked. And out of that 99.9%, a two is held up half of the time and a three vice versa. But taking your loud and outgoing personality into the equation, I know you're holding up a three." Morgan sighed with relief because Reid was correct. "…but I see a five…"

"Damn…alright, well he definitely has a concussion, but we're gonna have to- where are you going?" Morgan caught Reid as he stumbled away. He slammed into the wall and pushed off into the bathroom where he began violently vomiting. JJ ran into the bathroom to comfort Reid.

"Anybody know how to treat a concussion?" Prentiss asked.

"Reid probably does," Rossi answered.

"Well, you're not supposed to sleep, right?" Prentiss guessed.

"Actually, that's based on an old wives' tale," Reid began. He was leaning against the wall looking shaky and pale. "It's really interesting. It started in the 1800s-"

"Do you know how to treat it?" Hotch asked calmly and efficiently.

"Ah, technically, you don't 'treat' concussions. You just have to be monitored. The reason you can't sleep if you have a concussion is the possibility of not waking up. But if you're being monitored at a hospital or a clinic, they can medically revive you."

"Yeah, it says here," Prentiss started, holding up her phone, "you can't sleep for four hours after getting a concussion." JJ helped Reid walk over to the couch.

"But that claim has been disproven!" Reid exclaimed too quickly, finally seeing where this was going and desperate for sleep.

"Has it, Reid?" Hotch fixed him with his special super-Hotchner-detecting-stare.

"It's…it's in the process of being disproven." Reid made the Reid face where his mouth tugs to the side and his eyes widen with innocence. "But it still has credit all on its own, with-"

"Sorry, Reid, no sleep for you," Prentiss tousled his hair as she walked past him to her seat.

"Don't worry, it's only for four hours. You'll probably be able to catch a nap before the flight is over," Rossi sympathized.

"But this flight is about 4 hours and 6 minutes long and 9 minutes and 36 seconds have already passed." Reid stared up at Rossi with brown puppy dog eyes.

Rossi cleared his throat and avoided eye contact. "Well, then…" Rossi shrugged and settled back into his chair.

"But I've already been up for 47 hours, 3 minutes and 53 seconds. Hotch! Reid looked to the older man for support, but Hotch was also avoiding eye contact, dozing in his chair.

"Don't worry, Kid; we'll help you stay awake." Morgan clapped him on the shoulder.

"But-but…I'm so tired…"

JJ came back into the room carrying a large stack of dull-looking books. "Here, Spence. I got some books from around the plane. There's about twenty here, so it should take up about three seconds of your life," JJ smiled sadly at him "Sorry, Spence." Reid just sighed and leaned back in his chair. Morgan turned around and faced the team, his back to Reid.

"We're a team so we are all gonna make sure he stays awake, got that? I'll be on coffee duty."

"Uh, Morgan? You're doing a bang-up job." Prentiss said, pointing behind him. Morgan turned to see a peacefully sleeping Reid.

"C'mon, Kid. Wake up." Morgan shook Reid. "Reid. Reid!" Morgan pinched Reid's arm not-so-gently.

"Ow…uh, what?" Reid cleared his throat and sad up looking guilty. He rubbed his eyes and accepted the coffee Rossi offered him. "Thanks…" Reid sighed. "I guess I'll get started on learning how to fly a plane," Reid said as he picked up the first book on the stack.

Morgan settled down in a chair across from Reid and studied his face while Reid began devouring the books. But Reid also kept an eye on the rest of the team waiting for them to close their eyes.

It took an hour, due to the pounding in Reid's head but he finally finished all 18 books. He blinked as he set down the book and fell asleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The sound of the landing gear woke the team up. Each of them slowly realized none of them were vigilant in their duties to care for the absent genius.

"Where's Reid?" Morgan asked on the verge of panic.

"Over here," Reid said, making an appearance from the bathroom, wiping his ashen face.

"How are you feeling, Spence?" JJ asked, her maternal instincts activating.

"Uh, well, I'm very dizzy," Reid answered, emphasizing the point by swaying and grabbing the wall for support. "But other than that, I'm fine. So, who's gonna drive me to the hospital?" Reid asked right before he collapsed and passed out.


End file.
